kimball



c. P. KIMBALL.

- Car Seat.

No. 79,837. r Patented July 14, 1868..

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Letters Patent No.' 79,837, dated July 14, 1868.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CON GERN: v

Be it known that I, C. P. KIMBALL, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland, and State of Maine, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Car-Seats; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptiontherepf, which will enable others to make and use my invention, reference being had to -the,accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, .in which Figure 1 is a plan of the rack and gears.

Figure 2 is a side elevation 'of a. chair or seat. V

The most common method of constructing car-seats is well known to be that where the back of the seat is attached-to two bars pivoted to the centre of the seat arms, and the backs can thus be swungdn a Segment of a circle up over the seat, so as to make the seat front either one or theother way, as desired. With this arrange,

ment travellers often monopolize two benches when they ought not properly to be entitled to more than two or three seats. I Locks have consequently becn invented or prevent two adjacent seats from being turned so as to face each other, without theco'nsent of the conductor.

It is the purposeof my invention to produce car-seats, none of which can be turned at all without the aid of the proper oflicial, and of which all-or a part only can be turned, as desired, or all can be turned at once, so as tmobviate the necessity of having some one pass through near and turning over all the backs of the seats when 'the direction of the car is reversed, as is now c'ommonly the case.

My invention consists in a rack or racks with a pinion or pinions, which turn gears rigidly attached to the revolving posts of the chairs, and so turn the chairs, or revolve them in horizontal planes, as desired.

Let A show the bottom or floor ot' a ear; B, the aisle between the two rows of seats. a is a sliding toothed raok,"either resting onthe floor of the carer set in theside thereof, but in'su ch way arranged as to operate a pinion, b. This rack may be operated'on the car platform or any convenient place, by a brake having agear,

as c, or by any other known and convenient means. This lever or brake may be locked-so as not to be moved except by the person having the means of releasingth e same, and so all of the seats of the car can be controlled by the lever, its rack, and the pinions and gears. d and d are two gears to be rigidly attached to the chairposts h i, which gears, being moved by the pinion b, revolve, carrying with them the chairs set on these posts It 2'. k communicates the motion of one seat th another.

The chairs revolve, as'before specified, in horizontal planes on their posts h z'. A lever, rack, pinions, and gears are provided for each row of the seats, that is, on each side o f the car, C shows the chair or chairs with post 72 or 2', and a shell or cylinder, m, which are the gears d d. In swinging" around, the chairs turn free from each other. This shell beingsecured to the car floor, protects the gears.- It is obvious that the length of the racks a can be so regulated as to turn half, or more or less of the seats on one side of a car.

Thus, when-a car has reached a. place of destination, and is to return," the seats can be quickly and easily reversed by'operating the racks and gears on each side of the car.

The seats can be made of any desired patterns, together or separate, turning on one or two posts, according as they are thus together or separate. I

I have shown a convenient form ofchair in the drawing, but do not limit the application of my invention to this alone. i i

It will be seen that the seats operate independent of each other, or each turns on its own post or upright pivot. It is evident that instead of the rack, a, a band or hands, pulleys, chain, or other equivalent device, could be employed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Locking or securing the seats of cars so that theycannot be turned or reversed, either separately or all together, without operating the lever or brake c, in the manner and by the means substantially as set forth.

2. Operating or reversing inhorizontal planes the seats of cars by means of a rack'and lever or brake and gears, substantially as and for, the purposcsherein set forth.

3. Reversing all the seats on one side of a car simultaneously by one lever or brake, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. Arranging the seatstof cars so that each one of the separate chairs or seats willturn independent of the other, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth. A O. P. KIMBALL.

Witnesses:

Hnnnr .0. Housron, WM. FRANK Snavnr. 

